LONDON SUPER TRUNK SHOW 2018 – BRAND HIGHLIGHT #3 — MYRQVIST

Myrqvist is a Private Label brand of the Swedish online store Herrstil, who started their shoe initiative in spring 2016 with a campaign on Kickstarter. It was extremely successful, a total of over €70,000 was gained in the campaign and over 400 pairs of shoes were pre-ordered.

They have a close cooperation with the Indian factory that makes their shoes and regularly visit it, the same with a tannery in the same vicinity of where they buy the leather. Apparently, both factories are good both in terms of environmental work and the work environment, which makes them more expensive than many other shoe factories in India, but still cheap compared to Europe. This, in combination with the fact that you do not have the retailer step, enables them to offer affordable shoes.

****Edit***** after being contacted by the owner, he said that initially their shoes were made in Vietnam, moved to India but as of 2017 have moved production to Portugal and use Du Puy leather (the famous French tannery). This for meis a lot better than India so good news for all of you too, or at least it should be.

For only £180/€200 you get Goodyear welted shoes, made of full grain leather with leather board heel stiffeners. According to Jesper of Shoegazing blog, they are quite comfortable from start, compared to many other Goodyear welted brands, making them extra attractive for entry-level segment buyers. The range of models consists of the classics in different leather choices: plain cap toe oxfords, semi brogues, adelaides, chukkas, chelseas, penny loafers and so on. Read a review of Myrqvist here.